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Education Task Force

Recommended Actions for Parents and Community Members at the Local Level

Becoming involved in your local public school district is key part of ensuring that progressive democratic values shape the education that your children receive. Conservative Republicans and particularly conservative Christians have long understood that a central avenue to political influence is at the school level. Progressive democrats must be equally energetic and committed to becoming involved and influential in school politics, particularly at the local and state levels.

Below is a list of suggestions, ranging from modest to ambitious in nature, of how progressive citizens can become involved in their public schools.

1. Talk to friends and neighbors about your concerns and thoughts about the public schools. Through informal talk around the picnic table, in line at the grocery store or the post office, or through religious/spiritual networks, build alliances of friends and neighbors who share your concerns about public education's problems of inequality of funding and educational opportunities, top-down standardization of curriculum, or the pervasive use of standardized testing at every grade level.
2. Get in the practice of attending school board meetings and any public meetings available to parents or citizens that relate to educational policy in your district or state. Speak up at these meetings. Ask questions and interject your opinions.
3. Write letters to your local district's Educational Administrators and Board of Education members about specific issues or policies. Here is a sample taken from Alfie Kohn's article, "Fighting the Tests":

   Dear __________:
   
   I want to register my concern that there seems to be an excessive emphasis in our school on getting students ready for the standardized achievement tests scheduled for administration during (give the month of the upcoming test-administration). The reason I'm concerned is that I'm fearful the teaching staff's preoccupation with raising scores on those tests may be preventing the teachers from covering other important skills and knowledge that the school's students need.
   
   I realize that you and your teaching staff are under considerable pressure to "raise test scores" because it is widely believed that students' scores on standardized achievement tests reflect the quality of a teaching staff and, by implication, the quality of the school's principal.
   
   I've been doing some reading on that topic, and I understand why it is that students' standardized test scores do not provide an appropriate indication of a teaching staff's competence. Scores on those tests are more a reflection of the student population served by a school than an indication of the skill of the school's educators.
   
   I hope that you and your staff will address this test-preparation issue in the near future. Parents want the school's children to get the very best education possible. I'm sure you do too. That will not happen, however, if our school's heavy emphasis on test-preparation deflects the school's teachers from dealing with the curricular content our children need.
   
   Sincerely,
   
   [Your Name]

4. Write letters to your local newspaper. Letters to the editor are widely read and are a great way to express your concerns about educational policies in your district or state. Another way to get your concerns voiced is to submit an op-ed article to your local newspaper. Each newspaper has guidelines for letters and op-ed pieces, so check with your local paper for its guidelines.
5. With like-minded friends and neighbors, visit education policy-makers to express your concerns about schools and current educational policies. Your local district Superintendent, state legislators, and state Board of Education leaders are all your representatives. Lobbying them to express your concerns as a parent or citizen is an effective and underutilized form of political participation. A face-to-face meeting at which you directly express a few key points will educate this public official about your concerns and may help shape future policy.
6. Educate and lobby your local media. With a group of like-minded neighbors and friends, request a meeting with your local newspaper editors or education reporters to express your concerns about the schools and the quality of their reporting on school-related issues. Educate them about how their reporting can help exacerbate existing problems in schools. For example, "help them to see how problematic it is to cite rising or falling test scores as an indication of educational quality. Explain to them that most experts in the field oppose high-stakes testing in particular." (from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/ftt.htm)
7. Get involved in your school board in support of public education. Campaign for better school funding and bond initiatives. Pressure the board to support programs that help teachers and benefit students. If you are a business owner, provide time off for your employees who volunteer. Better yet, run for office.
8. Organize or participate in a protest or demonstration. When it seems like your perspective on local school policies or practices isn't being heard or responded to in a timely and appropriate manner, a demonstration or public protest can be effective. A simple but powerful message ("high-stakes tests are hurting our kids' education" or "stop the cuts to arts and music programs"), a number of placards and large signs, a reasonable number of marchers, and a well-placed phone call to a local newspaper or TV station will make an effective protest.